Teenagers
by Alice-Anna.Berlin
Summary: Everyone has to grow up eventually. What happens to Lock, Shock and Barrel, when they become teenagers? Through love, drugs, and pain they each find their place in the world and who they really are. Slight songfic. R&R for more!
1. Chapter 1

Teenagers

**AN: My Chemical Romance's "Teenagers" is intermixed a little throughout this story. Rated T for drugs, a little language, and violence. I hope I haven't scared you off yet. Oh ps, by now Jack and Sally have two of the five Skellington kids. **

The mayor looked down his flat nose at the three, bedraggled, blackened, ashen faced teenagers. They were all looking down, and shuffling their feet awkwardly, except for the red headed boy, who was smirking determinedly up at The Mayor.

"So," The Mayor growled. He was perched a top his gigantic desk, white faced and angry.

"So….what?" Lock asked, "What are you going to do to us now, Mayor? Give us a spanking?"

"Shut up, boy," The mayor barked, "I've lived with the three of you for long enough. I've turned a blind eye to most of your…petty misdeeds, but this, well I can't look away anymore!"

"It was an accident," Shock whispered.

"It was," Barrel agreed, "We meant to just heat the vampire's coffins up. Not burn them. Or make their whole house explode."

"Killing two of them?" The mayor barked.

Shock stifled a sob. She couldn't cry in front of Lock and Barrel.

"I don't know how it's even possible to kill the undead!" The Mayor yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Lock groaned, "Well now that you've given us a talking to, can we go?"

"You're staying here," The Mayor hissed, icily.

Lock rolled his eyes. Shock slugged him in the arm.

"What was that for?" he spat at her.

Shock was about to retort, but then the door behind was flung open. A gust of wind announced the entrance of Jack Skellington. Jack rarely looked angry, but now, his bony eye sockets were scrunched down, in a fearsome glower at Lock, Shock and Barrel. His mouth was clenched in a tight scowl, and his tiny nostrils were flared. Jack's bony hands were balled into fists.

"Hey Bone Daddy!" Lock said, jovially as Jack stormed past. He ignored Lock.

"Jack, thank goodness!" The Mayor exclaimed, "I've got to find something to do with these miscreants."

"Mayor, I have a simple solution," Jack sighed, "They're not children anymore."

"Obviously," The Mayor scoffed.

"We just need to give them time to grow up," Jack decided, "So, I think the best solution would be to send them each off to a different place to live, and grow up. In a _good_ environment, where they can be brought up respectably."

"WHAT?" Lock shrieked, "I am not leaving Barrel and Shock! They're my family!"

Jack ignored again him and turned to Shock, "Shock, you could come and stay with me and my family. I'm sure my wife, Sally would find plenty of things for you to help her with."

"Um, alright," Shock breathed, not meeting Jack's dark eye sockets.

"NO!" Lock yelled.

"Barrel," Jack continued giving Barrel and friendly pat on the shoulder, "You could have an internship with the Mayor. Wouldn't you like that?"

"I-I guess it could be worse," Barrel stuttered.

"Good man," Jack complimented, slapping Barrel on the back.

"They're not going anywhere!" Lock insisted.

"Lock," Jack growled, "I suggest you shut your mouth and do what you're told. You're in enough trouble already. I think Dr. and Mrs. Finklestein might have room for you up at their house."

"No way am I going to live with that creep!" Lock argued.

"Well that's settled then," The Mayor said, slapping his hand on the top of his desk.

"It is not settled!" Lock exclaimed, "We're a family! You can't just rip us apart like this!"

"It seems to me, Lock," Jack commented, "that you've ripped apart the vampire's family more permanently than we've 'ripped apart' your family."

Lock glared at Jack.

_They gonna clean up your looks with all the lies in the books _

_To make a citizen out of you_

**You want more? Hit me up with a nice review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: well…I didn't actually think anyone was going to read this…hence the no updating thing. I literally wrote that on Halloween because I was bored. I didn't really expect it to go anywhere…so yeah. I'm so sorry for the long wait. This chapter is short because I felt bad for making you wait. Promise the next one will be longer!**

**Much Love,**

**The Mortician's Daughter :D **

"I guess this is goodbye," Barrel said forlornly. The three teenagers were waiting outside Jack's house.

"This isn't goodbye," Lock said, vehemently rolling his eyes, "I'm getting us out of here, together, if it's the last I do!"

Barrel shook his head, "Lock, I think Jack's right. We're not kids anymore. We need to grow up."

"Get stuffed, Barrel," Lock growled, "We're a family. If you could just give me twelve hours, I can get us out of here and back together in no time. Promise."

"Lock, will you shut up and listen to me for two seconds of your life," Barrel shrieked, "We have no where to run to. There's no escaping this world. Even if we left, they'd find us. For years we've been pulling pranks on people and running. They let it slip by because we were kids and 'didn't know any better'. But we're not kids anymore and we can't run anymore. We've just got to accept the consequences of our actions and move on."

Lock glowered at Barrel, "My family comes first, Barrel. I don't care what those stupid adults say. We're a family."

"And maybe if you stopped thinking about yourself, you'd see that maybe this is the best option we've got!" Barrel retorted, "You can be so selfish, Lock. You don't even care that you killed two vampires, do you?"

Lock clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

"Hey," Shock interjected, slapping her hand on Lock's shoulder, "Take it easy."

Lock shook her hand off and launched himself at Barrel, punching every inch of him that he could find.

"Get off him!" Shock yelled, ripping the two boys apart.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she shot at Lock, "here you are, talking about how we're a family and then you attack Barrel? You are so messed up sometimes!"

Lock said nothing, breathing hard.

"Barrel's right," Shock said, "this is out of our hands. We've just gotta go with it."

Lock felt hot anger pouring out of him. He avoided Shock's eyes and looked at his pointy feet.

The sound of footsteps made them all look up. The mayor was approaching, wobbling back and forth under the weight of his gigantic hat.

"Come on, Barrel," the mayor invited, "its time to go."

Barrel trudged sadly over to where the mayor was standing, "Bye Shock, I'll see ya round, I guess."

Lock glared viciously at him.

Barrel quickly looked away, trying to conceal the tears that were trickling out of his eyes. Shock squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath in.

"Yeah, that's right, go!" Lock yelled after them, as they began to disappear, "WE DON'T NEED YOU!"

He turned to Shock. Lock couldn't help but notice how much Shock had grown up. Her wild black hair was longer, and tamed into a beautiful braid. She had gotten both thinner and rounder, but just in the right spots. Her blue eyes were sparkling with tears that she was trying to disguise.

"We could leave, Shock. Just us. We could start somewhere else. Together," Lock suggested.

Shock shook her head.

"You can't leave me alone!" Lock protested, "Shock, I love you!"

Shock hiccupped in surprised.

"Please," Lock whispered, taking her hands in his, "Please."

She kissed him on the cheek.

"No," Shock choked, "but Barrel's right. It's not like I'll never see you again. But I'm sorry Lock. I can't do this."

With that, Shock slowly mounted the steps up to Jack's house, and turned her back on Lock.

Lock felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. He felt like his heart had just been ripped into pieces. He had just lost his best friend in the entire world, and the girl he was in love with.

Lock was faced with no other option. He turned away and walking to Dr. Ficklestein's house.

_Because they sleep with a gun _

_To keep and eye on you, son_

_So they can watch all the things you do _


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Hey, thank you all so much for your reviews! You're great.

Lock hated Dr. Finklestein's house. It creaked ominously at night and it was always dark and freezing cold. Even with a light, Lock could barely make out a few feet in front of him, which made it very easy for the creepy old doctor or his wife to sneak up on Lock in the dark. He had only been here two days, and already he wanted to run away.

He would have by now, but Doctor Finklestein was practically impossible to escape from. True, he was old, but the only way out of his house was the front door, which was always locked. Finklestein didn't even trust his wife with the key to the giant door. The only other way out was a thirty foot drop out a window with a sheer wall that Lock didn't dare to attempt, for fear he would die.

So, he was stuck here, for now, dreaming of Shock and the life they could have had together.

Today, Finklestein had set him sorting herbs into jars. It was the kind of job that was so boring; any sane person would claw their eyes out before they were done. Lock groaned, as the tiny light of his candle guttered against a mysterious draft. A few more of the herbs lock was shorting blew straight into the candle's weak flame. Instead of extinguishing the candle's flame, the leaves produced a succulent vapor that made Lock's nose tingle.

Lock took a deep breath in, inhaling the smoke. It relaxed his brain, and made him feel sleepy. The world around him was swimming. He could see new shapes forming, people he knew, memories. Lock saw the time he, Shock and Barrel had ventured into Easter Land and Christmas Land. Everything was crystal clear, as though he was in the moment, living everything over again.

A new image materialized. It was shock, just as she had been yesterday, stepping more closely toward him. Lock could feel Shock's arm around him, her breath on his face. Lock closed his eyes.

Nothing happened.

Lock's eyes snapped open. He glanced around the room. It was completely empty, except his small candle and the jars of herbs he had been sorting through. Lock rubbed his eyes, confused. He picked up the small leaves that had emitted the strange vapor earlier, and look at them. They were thin and papery, and looked like they had once been green, but were now a grayish color.

Lock glanced around nervously, and then shoved the remaining leaves into his pocket. Whatever had just happened, Lock wanted more.

No, he needed more.


End file.
